1. 4.1 megapixel sensor creates 2,272 x 1,704 images for prints at sizes up to 11 x 14 inches
2. 3x optical Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar zoom lens and 2x digital zoom with 5-area multi-point autofocus
3. Stores images directly on 156 MB 8cm CD-R or CD-RW (rewriteable) discs
4. Discs can be read by virtually all Mac and PC CD-ROM drives (not currently compatible with Apple iPhoto)
5. Uses proprietary Infolithium rechargeable battery (NP-FM50 )

Customer Review :

The convenience is worth it...

I've owned this camera for about 2 years now. I have dropped it, kicked it on the pavement and still, I get great shots. The photos are great and there is lots of flexibility of storage. You can delete photos before you finalize the disk if you like or keep all of them and only upload those you want to manipulate with editing software. Very user friendly, I like the feel of the camera, has a nice grip to it. Opportunties to improve: the lcd screen does not have protection so it is kind of scratched up; also, hard to frame your shot without a view finder in very bright light or with low light at night. Finally, need to account for shutter lag time to get the photo you want. It takes several seconds for start up so you need to account for this as well. Regardless, the pros outweigh the cons, I love the cd fomat for saving the photos -- no need to transfer from memory stick to computer or printer, just pop into your computer and you are there.

Rating :

love this camera

This is the best digital camera I have ever used. I have even bought a spare camera (MVC-CD400 it is sitting quietly in its box) just incase I where to ever break it beyond repair ;)

Ya its that Sweet!!!

Brandon

Rating :

what a great gift

This camera was a gift. I don't know much about digital cameras except that whenever I have used one, the pictures always seem very grainy. I never understood why people would use them over regular cameras, except for the online uses. Having said all that, I must now admit that I love this camera. The picture quality is excellent, and I love being able to see my pictures on the computer and choosing which ones I want on paper. My only complaint (minor) is the view screen. When you are outside, it is difficult to see what you are aiming for.

Rating :

Great Little Camera

I just love this great camera from Sony. The Mavica MVC-CD400 was a great buy for me a couple of years ago, although a 4 megapixel camera doesn't cost quite this much anymore. I spent 600 dollars for the camera at Best Buy, getting a deal because it was an open item.

The MVC-CD400 is extremely user friendly in all modes of operation (still picture, movie, or review). In my two years of taking pictures with this camera, I have only used the fully automatic still picture mode and the simple movie mode. I've yet to have a bad shot. Part of what makes shooting pictures with this camera so easy is the fact that it has the large viewing window to let the user see just about exactly what the picture will look like.

This camera has a fairly quick auto-focus feature that is highly reliable except in extreme low-light conditions, and even then it can usually compensate for the lack of light by using the built-in diamond pattern lamp used for helping the camera focus. Where this tool starts to fail is for objects more than six feet away, depending on lighting.

Although the camera has a note that it displays on power-up any time it detects a non-Sony Mavica CD installed in the storage bay, I've never had any problem using other discs. Typically I use the Memorex 210 MB CD-R's.

With these discs, I can store 95 pictures at the highest JPEG resolution, or 954 pictures at the lowest resolution. For the movie mode, the same disc will yield 8 minutes and 31 seconds at the highest resolution (which isn't that great at 320 HQX) or 100 minutes at 160 by 112 resolution, which is actually pretty crappy video. But if you want a camcorder, this is not the toy for you.

The camera can also store images in TIFF format, but be prepared to wait a while for the images to save to the disc, and to change the discs often. Only 13 images will fit on a 210 MB disc in this format. For anyone who isn't interested in professionally working with their photos, the JPEG format is fine. I've printed out many of those prints at 8x10 with remarkable detail.

Some of the extra features of this camera include the photo effects, such as black and white or negative (can't quite figure out what I might want to do with that one, but it's there nonetheless) and a red-eye reduction flash. The red-eye reduction takes a little bit more work than I would like to turn on and off (rotating the selector knob to "SET UP" and navigating a couple of options then back again), but it isn't that much of a pain and can be done in about 5 seconds. Also the user can select a "confirm before write" option, to avoid wasting space on the disc for those who have a habit of taking a picture with their thumb over the lens or something.

Another feature of the camera is to stamp the image with a date/time stamp. I don't know why anyone would really want to do this, since the time and date are also imbedded in the file (along with other data such as ISO speed, focal length, flash, and exposure time) and can be retrieved by loading the disc into a computer CD-ROM drive.

Battery life is usually quite good. I can typically use mine for an entire event (football game, wedding, etc.) without worrying about the battery, although the internal monitor might be telling me that it's low toward the end if I've been doing a lot of reviewing.

One of the drawbacks I've read in another review of this product is that sometimes using the camera to review the images stored on the disc can be painfully slow. While it is slower than using a memory stick model, it isn't that bad. Add the advantage of accessing all of the images very quickly using a PC (even before the disc is finalized by the camera) and the usefulness of this method becomes clear. Transfers from a CD are substantially faster than transfers via USB or Firewire.

I have a Canon EOS Digital Rebel now which I use most of the time and love, but I'm not getting rid of this great little Sony. Partly because my girlfriend loves it and it's kind of her camera now (she's laid claim to it), but also because it is still so useful and so good that I see no reason to.

Rating :

Fragility, portability, durability

As an avid photographer, I wanted a digital camera that had the complicated lense features of a regular SLR without the complications of the various storage disks/cards/drives that plague most other digital cameras. This camera looked like the one. It burns to a mini cd, and therefore the orginal images are available immediately on disc without software or cords. It has mini video functions as well as other high tech possibilities.

Nice idea, but it failed. This camera is still relying on new burning technology, so the camera is still extremely fragile and definately not portable. I've had the camera 10 months and I've had to fix it three times. First the burning lense broke... any slight shake or bump will cause it to go off course, making the entire camera non-usable. As there is no harddrive within the camera, if you cannot burn to cd then you cannot take pictures. Then the photo lense got jammed (over the course of a month--so photos picked up a blur after a little while) and was unable to function, although I was still able to view pictures. After paying to REPLACE both parts (in excess of $150 each) the burning lense broke again after two months.

If you're planning to only take the camera out on special occasions, fine, but if you're planning on doing any sightseeing with it, putting it in a bag and taking it anywhere, it won't hold up.

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More reviews...

1. 7-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 15 x 20-inch prints
2. 3x optical zoom; 2.5-inch LCD display
3. High Sensitivity Mode (ISO 1000) allows for shooting even in low-light conditions
4. User-friendly controls and simple on-screen Function Guide text
5. Powered by a lithium-ion battery (battery and charger supplied); stores images on Memory Stick DUO or Pro media (includes 58 MB internal memory)

Customer Review :

Nice camera, but not sturdy

I bought this camera a year ago for Christmas. I thought the picture quality was really good, however, it started having problems with the shutter not long after i bought it. I took really good care of it, until i dropped it once. The lens would no longer come completely out, so it would no longer focus for pictures. I took it apart, but it's not even worth getting fixed. I plan on getting a new cybershot so i can keep the battery and memory card, but i'm hoping another model will be better, especially considering the w80 and w90 cost less.

Rating :

Breaks

Had camera for a brief time, lcd broke while in the carrying case without any kinda of dropping or stress, then even though we had bought the "Full Coverage" insurance, they would not fix or have anything to do with it.

Rating :

WAY BETTER THAN EXPECTED!!

Since, I myself rely on customer reviews before I make a purchase, I figured I should also leave one as well... Well, first off if I had looked at these reviews before this purchase (my husband surprised me with this camera) I might not have bought this one. So here goes:
My first sony cypershot was a dsc-p92 5 mega pixels and in all fairness I guess it was a "good" camera at the time.. I've had that one for a very long time, problems arose so much with that camera, such as dead batteries (used AA's) within an 1/2 hour of placing new ones,, but I am getting off subject.
The sony cypershot dsc-w70 camera is GREAT. well mostly anyway.. I have had this camera for about a year, so I have had lots of uses for it.
PROS:
---LCD screen is a good 2 inches. great size!
---small enough to fit in a pocket.
---lithium battery is way better than those AA's
---quick to turn on
---quick time between first picture taken and next
---great pictures in any light. I have taken pictures in a very dim lit room late at nite and pictues came out great. Don't understand how others are having such a big difference in their pictures.
---does take great action pictures.. My daughter and her friends, do a jump and flip with their skateboards mid-air and this camera has stopped the action in its tracks without it being the least bit blurry, and that's with a bunch of 13 yr olds taken them
-----I have taken many pictures while driving and they too come out without a problem. What I have found that works great is to push the shutter button halfway down then take the picture. Not one bad picture while in a moving car since then.
----video playback works very well, microphone works decent enough that you don't have to be right on top of who you are recording. Though if you talk it will pick that up. Records concerts, plays, anything your kids or whoever might be performing.
----Battery lasts a long time before a charge, videotaped approx 1 1/2 hrs of a concert(non-stop) and didnt even go to a half charge (while using the lcd)
---Has been dropped by my daughter and has not been damaged or scratched at all.
---Easy to set up to download pictures and such into your computer, but with just one cord hooks up to your tv to view pictures there..(my other sony this was not an option just the computer you could view)
---Has a viewfinder! So many digital cameras out there now no longer offer a viewfinder, which most of us probally don't use, but if your batteries are getting low turn off the lcd and that battery will last longer

CONS:
---If you want to videotape, you must remember to zoom if you choose BEFORE you start to record, because you cannot do it once you start.
---The spot where they put the dial for the different types of settings tends to get moved around when you remove camera from either your purse, camera bag or pocket, so be sure to check setting before taking that picture.
---Twilight setting is not good at all unless you have a tripod. camera takes way to long to take picture and if you move even the slightest the picture will be very very blurry. you would be better off using the auto setting and hoping for the best. which pictures do come out just fine IF subject is close to you, far away it would be black, though it only has a small flash built in and is not a 1,000 dollar camera.

All in all, I am very glad my husband just happened to pick out this camera. Extremly happy with the camera and am not even thinking about getting a new one yet. (Knock wood) LOL
Are there better cameras out there?? Most likely, but there are worse ones also. The price was right and the performance for me has been great!

Hope this has helped.


Rating :

A piece of crap!

I do not recommend this camera at all.

1. Charging the battery takes forever (at least a few hours) -- forget about his last-minute charging for a special event!
2. This camera is also not good at compensating the normal miniscule jitter from a human stationary hand when the person who is taking the picture is in motion (even in steady motion -- such as in a vehicle moving on a smooth surface).
3. Exactly a year after I bought it (barely a month after the 1 year warranty was up), it broke. When I turn the camera on, it displays a message "Access" on the screen, the screen does not display the image in view of the camera and I cannot take pictures. The turn on and turn off also do not work properly -- the lens goes in and out randomly, inconsistent with what I am trying to achieve (turn the camera on or turn the camera off).

This time I am buying some cheap Chinese camera that will, probably, last longer!

I am usually not a conspiracy theorist but stuff like this really makes one wonder if these cameras are not programmed to break right after the warranty is up...



Rating :

Lovely camera, for about a year...

I received this camera as a gift. It looks nice and took fine enough pictures, but after about 1 year, the navigational buttons went haywire. If I press up, the menu scrolls left, right and it goes up. Its barely usable anymore and every setting is stuck on the "multi-shot" feature. Sometimes I can rig it to work, bit I don't think a $300+ camera should have to be "rigged" to do what it was made to do. I, too, called customer service and received the same "flat-rate" repair fee of $180.00. I laughed and told the customer service rep that was ridiculous. I am sure I can find this, or another usable cameram elsewhere for that price. And I won't have to wait months for its return. If you do buy this camera, maybe spring for the extended warranty and ask what it specifically covers, just in case.

Rating :

More reviews...

Editorial Review :

About the size of a credit card, the amazing 6.0 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T9 combines Super SteadyShot Optical Image Stabilization, high ISO sensitivity and Clear RAW Noise Reduction to give you bright, beautiful indoor shots that preserve the mood of your memories. An extra-large 2.5 LCD screen lets you share entertaining Slide Shows with music background. You'll also have precision Carl Zeiss 3X Optical/6X Digital zoom lens, 58 MB Internal Memory, high-stamina InfoLithium battery for to 240 shots, and optional Cyber-shot Station cradle for quick hookup to PC, TV, AC power.

Customer Review :

No review yet

Editorial Review :

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W120 is a compact, feature rich camera with aluminum case. It features 7.2 megapixels and 4x optical zoom lens.

Customer Review :

No review yet

1. 5.1 MP CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 13 x 17-inch prints
2. Amazing 12x optical zoom; 2.5-inch LCD display
3. Captures VGA (640 x 480) video clips with audio at up to 30 frames per second
4. AF Illuminator briefly illuminates the subject for focus in low- or no-light conditions
5. Stores images on Memory Stick media (32MB of internal memory included); powered by AA-size batteries

Editorial Review :

A five megapixel, Super HAD CCD imager, 12X optical zoom lens and a large 2.5-inch LCD are just a few of the features on this model that are sure to please even the choosiest photo buff.With a focal length range of 36 - 432 millimeters (a 35mm equivalence) the DSC-H1 camera lets you frame distant objects with ease. Making the most of this telephoto reach, Sony's Super Steady Shot optical image stabilization feature counteracts camera-shake to ensure sharp images. This feature also benefits low-light photography by allowing the use of longer shutter speeds with reduced risk of image blur from camera-shake.Sony's Real Imaging Processor circuitry is incorporated in the model for better battery efficiency, more responsiveness and high quality movie taking, while seven preset scene modes allow quick selection of the best setting for specific shooting conditions. The camera also includes a five-area, multi-point auto focus to help you concentrate on the subject without mistakenly focusing on the background, as well as aperture/shutter priority and manual exposure modes for creative control of the image. For added convenience, the model has 32 MB of internal memory (30 MB of usable memory) and a Memory Stick flash media slot. PictBridge compatibility enables prints in a flash when the camera is connected to an enabled printer.

Customer Review :

Excellent Ultra Zoom!

I have owned the Sony DSC-H1 for over 2 months now and I have been very pleased with the results. Before I purchased, I read countless reviews and spent hours researching which ultra-zoom to buy. It finally came down to the Sony DSC-H1. I chose it over the Canon S2-IS because the Sony is a better deal. The H1 includes the following accessories in addition to the ones that are included with both the Canon and Sony: 2100mah rechargeable batteries and charger, lens adapter, lens hood, and 32mb of internal memory (vs. the 16mb card that is included with the S2. So, for less money you get rechargeable batteries, a lens adapter, lens hood, more memory, and a 2.5in LCD! (Even the tripod socket on the H1 is metal while it is plastic on the S2). So you see the H1 (for me) seems like a way better deal than the S2.

The H1 is built very well. It feels very good in the hand and it is very solid. The large hand grip and lens barrel make it a joy to hold. The battery door is very solid and doesn't feel like it will break even with heavy use (there is also a nifty hinge in the middle of the battery door that allows you to swipe memory cards without letting the batteries fall out; you can even change cards on a tripod)! I recently went to Wal-Mart and while browsing around, I decided to look at the cameras just for curiosity sake. Side by side they had the S2-IS and the DSC-H1. I picked up the S2 and it didn't feel like a solid, expensive camera like the H1 does. And then there's the LCD. After using the 2.5 in. screen on the H1 for a month, I saw just how small the 1.8 in. screen is! It is so small that it is very hard to see the details of your shot, both before and after you shoot. So, once you try the H1 you won't want to go back to a small LCD!

The camera is very easy to use. The controls are well placed and with a little practice you can operate the camera without removing your eye from the viewfinder (or LCD). The flash is very powerful and far reaching; it can be turned down for shooting closer subjects. Some people complain about the slow recycling of the flash. It is a little slow but I don't really mind; it doesn't take as long when you have it on low, which is what I use most of the time. It is only slow at the normal and high levels, but that is expected with having such a powerful flash. This doesn't bother me as I take mostly outdoor photos (that's why I wanted a 12X zoom)! If you will be taking mostly indoor shots then you may want to look somewhere else.

The 2.5 in LCD makes shooting a real pleasure! It is bright, clear, and gains up in low light (it doesn't gain up as much as some cameras, like Kodak, but it gains up enough for me). I also bought a screen protector on eBay to protect the LCD from scratches and fingerprints.

The zoom lens is smooth, fast, and has many stops to make precise adjustments. With 12X you can really do a lot more! There is some controversy over the lens not being very high quality. I have not found this to be true. Most of my shots come out sharp and clear (the occasional shot that is blurry is usually my fault; too slow of a shutter speed, etc). The Image Stabilization is incredible! It makes it that much easier to get that low light or far off shot that would have been impossible otherwise. I couldn't be happier with the quality of the shots that this camera puts out. The movie mode is also very nice. It is very high quality also. It is fun to take movies of some things that you just can't photograph.

I have to admit that I was tempted by the Panasonic FZ5 but the small screen, lack of manual focus, and the odd design just didn't appeal to me.

Now, on to the accessories:

I bought an extra set of batteries for $6 and 2 extra 256mb cards for about $40, and now I am all set for shooting pleasure. Don't get turned of because of Sony's use of Memory
Sticks. Even though they used to be more expensive then SD, they are rapidly falling in price and if you search the internet, you can easily find them for less then their SD counterparts.

I also bought a Tamrac Digital 6 camera bag to put everything in and it fits the bill! I bought this case because it fits the H1 with the lens adapter on (I want to leave it on all the time to protect the lens). Be sure to check out this case for the H1 as a very high quality alternative to the low quality Sony case (at only $18 this Tamrac case is a bargain)!

All-in-all I think that this is a super camera and I am very glad that I bought it.

Rating :

Fabulous beginner and intermediate camera

I have had this camera 2 months and all my pictures are razor sharp and crisp.Finding accessories has been a breeze and they work well.Invest in this camera you will be happy.

Rating :

great camera, but, wait for the H2 or H5

This camera took wonderful photos. The 12x with "steady Shot" is ready good. But, I will be passing it down or selling when the H5 is released.

Rating :

Great camera, Terrible software

This camera takes really great pictures. Awesome zoom, but the software that comes with it is terrible, you can't even delete a picture with it, you have to open windows explorer and delete the picture from there, quite annoying. But absolutely no complaints about the camera itself.

Rating :

A Good Camera ..

I decided a lot before buying this camera, the tie was between cannon S2 IS and Sony DSC-H1. I finally decided to go for DSC-H1
This is an absolutly great camera, the 12x zoom rocks. The image stabilization is also awesome. The only con is that, it has a very bright flash which throws up a lot of artificial light on the subject. The battery life (sony) is also good. But Cannon S2 uses the SD card which has become very cheap, where as H1 uses the memory stick which is costlier when comepared to SD.

overall the DSC-H1 is a great camera, but i would rather recommend going for a digital SLR if you are on the passion side of photography, since DSLR's prices are tumbling down.


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